Epiphany @ St. Apollinaris Parish

HOMILY - THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
JANUARY 6, 2019
4:30 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 5:30 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



Henry Van Dyke - a Presbyterian minister, author, and statesman - was born in 1830 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He taught English Literature at Princeton University and lectured at the University of Paris. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He also wrote the lyrics for the hymn “Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee,” which many of us are familiar with.

Van Dyke wrote two Christmas stories: The First Christmas Tree - in 1897; and before that The Other Wise Man - in 1896.



In the story, The Other Wise Man, Van Dyke writes about a fictional fourth wise man who it would seem was always a little bit behind schedule.

On his way to rendezvous with the three magi, he stops to help a dying man - and so is late. By the time he arrives, their caravan has set out across the desert. He is forced to sell 1/3 of his treasure to finance his own journey to Bethlehem.



When he arrives in Bethlehem, it is in the midst of the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod. The Holy Family has already fled to Egypt; and this wise man again uses 1/3 of his treasure to save the life of a child by paying off the troops sent to kill the children.

For thirty-three years he travels around - always just a few steps behind Jesus - living his life as a pilgrim and as one seeking for Jesus. When he finally finds Jesus, it is in Jerusalem ... on Good Friday. He is again distracted, using the last 1/3 of his treasure to ransom a young woman from being sold into slavery.



At the death of Jesus, the sun is darkened, and the earth shakes. Our fourth wise man is trapped under a falling stone at the temple. He feels that he has failed in his life’s quest - having never met Jesus ... and spending his treasure which was intended for the Christ Child, the newborn King, so many years before.

As he is dying - filled with remorse - he hears a voice that tells him:
 Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it 
 unto one of the least of these my brethren, 
 thou hast done it unto me.

That is, despite what appeared to be failures to achieve his own life’s goal, he had lived out the Beatitudes in his acts of mercy and charity. And in that sense, had not only met Jesus - but had served as the hands and feet of Christ in the world.



For ourselves, especially around this time of year, we make “New Year’s Resolutions.” To lose weight, or read more, or work harder, or be nicer. Whatever they may be. And more often than not, it only lasts a couple of day or maybe weeks.

At the end of the Gospel reading we hear that the Magi did not return the way they came, but that they “departed … by another way.”

There is a significance to this final line. To truly meet Christ Jesus in the flesh means to be transformed … to be changed. As Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen noted,

No one who ever meets Christ with a good will returns the same way as [they] came.

And so, as we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ; let us pray for the graces to truly be renewed by Christ’s presence among us. May we discover Him always in our daily lives … and be His hands and His feet … His mouth and His ears … out and about … in the world.

Mary, Mother of God @ St. Apollinaris Parish

HOMILY - THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD (OCTAVE DAY OF CHRISTMAS)
JANUARY 1, 2019
8:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



Several years ago, my sainted mother asked me around this time of the year:

What happened to the Feast of the Circumcision?

Now, I’m sure there’s no other word that can cause a grown man to cringe physically – except maybe “Romantic Comedy” – just kidding … but indeed, what happened to this feast?

Looking online at a liturgical resource, we have the Feast of the Circumcision going back into the 13th and 14th centuries; and it is recorded in the Missal before the Tridentine reforms in 1568, and continues to exist until 1955 when it is called quite simply “The Octave Day of Christmas.”



Which is strange, since it is quite biblical, and this is read at Mass today:

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Fifteen years later, in 1970, to make things even more confusing, the feast was renamed for a Roman feast day celebrated in the time of the Fathers of the Church called the “Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.”



Historically, for the Chosen People, circumcision was the very physical sign of their covenant with God. The entirety of Chapter 17 of Genesis is devoted to this covenant. In the 1962 liturgy it is not read at all in any Mass, and in the 1970 liturgy (no pun intended) it seems we get a cut-and-paste version of Chapter 17 in our Lectionary readings (if at all) on the Friday of the 12th Week of Ordinary Time every other year; and on the Thursday of the 5th Week of Lent every year.

So what’s it all about?

Oddly, or interestingly, the 500 plus year old prayers associated with this day are unchanged. So, whatever we call it, it’s basically the same Mass.

Circumcision has multiple purposes in the ancient world.

One consideration is hygiene. Even in today’s modern era, it seems to provide protection against some diseases.

Another was as a sign of membership in a tribe. This is still seen in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

It could also be a sign of defeat or submission. Ancient warfare often had all men of fighting age slaughtered after a surrender. This was considered a less brutal way of marking a defeated tribe or nation.



So what does this have to do with Jesus?

First, this “marked” Jesus as a descendent of Abraham and the prophecy in Genesis 17 that Abraham (at the age of 99) would father a son Israel who would bring about an enormous family of descendants, one of whom – the anointed one, the Messiah, would save Israel and be a blessing to all nations.

So, Jesus, through the Circumcision becomes of the tribe of Abraham.

Also, Abraham, at the age of 99, took this mark as a sign of submission to God. And it was passed on for thousands of years to all of his descendants. It reminds us of the earliest covenant with Abraham and the anticipation of Israel for thousands of years.



Finally, it is a foreshadowing of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. Because in fulfilling this Jewish ritual, His most Precious Blood was spilled for the first time. For indeed, there is but a short distance between the wood of the Creche and the wood of the Cross.

And so, Mom, what happened to the Feast of the Circumcision? It’s still here. But the names have been changed – perhaps out of a mid-century prissiness, perhaps out of a hyper-historicity – I’m just not sure.

But the Feast of the Circumcision reminds of us Jesus’s connection to Abraham, as well as His total submission to the Will of His Father, and commemorates the first shedding of His Blood as a foreshadowing of His Passion.



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us – in looking at the Creche see a foreshadowing of the Cross. And on this the eighth day – the day of Jesus’s Circumcision – may we circumcise our hearts, as St. Paul says, surrendering them to the power of God Almighty … and as a sign of our kinship to God in Christ.

Christmas @ St. Apollinaris Parish

HOMILY - THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
DECEMBER 24 / 25, 2018
5:00 PM (EVE), 8:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS (RUTHERFORD HOLY FAMILY)



The year was 1968, and it was known as “The Year the Changed the World,” or “The Year that Changed America.”

The very unpopular Vietnam War was underway – and increasing numbers of troops were being drafted. The US was in the middle of the Cold War as well as the Space Race with the Soviet Union.

Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee – leading to riots in many major cities. Two months later, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles.

The Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl, and the Detroit Tigers won the World Series.

The most profitable movie of the year was 2001: A Space Odyssey; while Hey Jude was the hottest single of the year.

Indeed the people were changing, America was changing, and the world was changing.



On the shortest day of the year, Apollo 8 was launched out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The second manned launch aboard a Saturn V rocket, with a three-man crew.

It was to be the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it, and return to Earth.



Three days after launch, orbiting the Moon, the astronauts saw for the first time … the Earth rising over the Moon.



They also took this opportunity to read 10 verses from the Book of Genesis, which began:
In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.


This of course led to multiple lawsuits from atheist Madeline Murray O’Hare – all three of which she lost through a failure to state a claim. I’m not sure if the astronauts having committed the offending action more than 230,000 nautical miles from any Earthly jurisdiction factored into it, but that’s my opinion.



The crew splashed down on December 27, and were named Time Magazine’s “Men of the Year.” Six months later, the US Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating this historic spaceflight.



Fifty years later, astronaut Jim Lovell, now 90 years old, commented that when they saw the Earth from the moon, so many hundreds of thousands of miles away, it struck him how fortunate we are to live:

on a planet that has the proper mass, has the gravity to contain water and an atmosphere, which are the very essentials for life," he said. "And you arrive on this planet that's orbiting a star just at the right distance — not too far to be too cold, or too close to be too hot — and just at the right distance to absorb that star's energy and then, with that energy, cause life to [exist] here in the first place.

Today, of course, is Christmas. And the Gospel we heard proclaimed was from the beginning of St. John. Which, like Genesis, starts out:

In the beginning …

While Genesis recounts the creation of all things … St. John’s Prologue recounts the re-creation of all things in Christ.



The coming of this one child – true God and true Man – in order to change us … so that we might change the world.



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us pray that the birth of Jesus Christ, when viewed by us through the distance of two thousand year, may give us pause and recognize that He has come … not only to us … but for us … right here and right now … sacramentally in the Eucharist … in order to transform us from who we are … into who God calls us to become.



On behalf of our pastor and myself, and all the deacons … staff … and volunteers … here at St. A’s … have a Blessed and Merry Christmas. And may you know and experience the transforming power of Christ, born for us today.

5th Resumed Sunday after Epiphany @ Holy Family

HOMILY - FIFTH RESUMED SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
NOVEMBER 11, 2018
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS
HOLY FAMILY CHAPEL, RUTHERFORD, CA



Howard William Osterkamp from Dent, Ohio served for nine months of his two-years of service on the 38th parallel in Korea with C Company, 5th Regimental Combat Team.

About half-way through those nine months, he was wounded in the leg with schrapnel, and suffered two breaks in his leg, but this was misdiagnosed by Army doctors, and he was returned to the front lines for four more months.

Osterkamp is credited with the phrase: “All gave some; some gave all.”



Today, is Veteran’s Day – which originated as Armistice Day 99 years ago at the end of the First World War. It took 19 years for Congress to declare it a national holiday.

It is also the memorial of St. Martin of Tours, who originally was a military man from a military family, and lived in the fourth century.

Pious legend tells us that Martin, seeing a poor beggar in the cold, took his sword and cut his own military cloak in half – sharing it with the shivering man. That night he had a dream where Christ appeared and repeated that well-known phrase “what you did for this the least of my brethren, you did for me.” And upon waking up, Martin saw that his cloak was no longer half, but 100%.



This led to his conversion, and eventually becoming a bishop in France.

Interestingly, the words “chapel” and “chaplain” supposedly arise from the French word for cloak or cape … and refer to the buildings where St. Martin’s cloak was displayed for prayer, and to the clergy who attended to the cloak as it moved from place to place.

In today’s Epistle from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we hear: “But above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfection.” Also of interest is that this is the Scripture that gives rise to the prayer all priests pray when they assume the chasuble – the outer cloak of the sacred vestments used for Mass.



In the Gospel, we hear one of the parables of weeds and the wheat. When the good seed came up as weeds, the servants are puzzled, while the master knows: “An enemy hath done this.”

In our own time, there is much bad fruit to be found in business, politics, and just about everywhere. There are weeds among the clergy – among those who have claimed to serve the Church. Yet, those men  no longer seek to serve Holy Mother Church, but rather viciously now seek to be served by the Church. This has caused much damage to souls, and indeed “An enemy hath done this.”



Our solution is a call to arms – but not with swords or troops or calvary. Rather, our weapons against the Enemy of our souls are virtue, prayer, and charity … as St. Paul has told us in today’s Epistle.
In order to know this Enemy, we must examine the fruits. And where the fruit is rotten and weeds grow in place of wheat – we know what has happened, and we know what it is we must do.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us never forget that He, and He alone has given everything. And indeed, while “all gave some, and some gave all” Yet we know that it is God alone Who has given us every good thing. Let us, in following Christ – Who gave His Life for our salvation – and those good examples of service – both to country and to Church – seek to return to God all the good He has given us … for the Greater Glory of the Almighty.

14th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

AUGUST 26, 2018

12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.



Todays Gospel give us a simple admonition. Easy to say, yet perhaps more difficult to implement.
St. Paul tells us the Fruits of the Holy Ghost.

charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, 
mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity

Yet prior to this enumerates seventeen “works of the flesh” which snuff out the spark of the Holy Ghost within us; and encourages us to crucify the flesh and snuff out vice and concupiscence.



In other news, the Church is receiving a black eye for the actions of a few … well, let’s just call it what it is … criminal idiots. The abuse scandal is back in the press, and this time its at the top of the hierarchy.

My personal take on this, is that is comes from what Pope St. John Paul II called “the mystery of iniquity.”

I guess the official response appears to be to point out that it was “sinful,” and that . . . well . . . we’re all sinners. Sure. Whatever.

It is indeed sinful. But it is also horrific, corrupt, reprehensible, and criminal. And while we all may be sinners, I hope that we aren’t all horrific, corrupt, reprehensible, criminal sinners.



At it’s root, it involves entitlement. A person thinking they can do whatever they want despite the appropriate moral and legal boundaries that help us live in a civilized society.

It also involves exploitation. We’re seeing exploitation of children, people, assets, power, and just about anything and everything that there is that can be exploited.

The worst part, is that these people are priests, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals.

Priests take vows, but the vow that’s being broken isn’t only chaste celibacy … rather, priests also promise to celebrate “the mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously” as well as to “hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” … to care for “the Lord’s flock,” to sanctify “Christ’s people,” and to unite ourselves “to Christ the High Priest . . . [in offering] to the Father . . . a perfect sacrifice.”



On May 18, 1986, Pope St. John Paul II uses the phrase “mystery of iniquity” three times in his Encyclical “Dominum et Vivificantem: On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World.”

In the first mention, he points out that sin is more than breaking a rule. Sin reveals “the evil that sin contains.” That is, evil is real. And sin is evil. Second, he points out that sin is opposed, not by a stasis of not sinning or avoiding sin, but by embracing piety and holiness; to love God to the point of forgetting oneself. And finally, he points out that the end-game is conversion, in which we are to destroy “every fetter by which sin binds [us] to the whole of the mystery of iniquity.”



In the Gospel, Our Blessed Lord tells us:

No man can serve two masters. 
For either he will hate the one, and love the other: 
or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. 
You cannot serve God and mammon.

And that is the choice we all must make each and every day. Whom will we serve?

Certainly not the horrific, corrupt, criminal sinners … the entitled idiots who have exploited the treasures of our Faith.



Rather, Our Lord also tells us:

Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, 
and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Let us choose to serve Christ . . . and Christ alone. He Who came to us in the Magnum Mysterium – the Great Mystery – of His incarnation, and He Who left us the “mystírio ton mystiríon” – the Sacrament of Sacraments – the Most Blessed Sacrament – His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.



Pray for me, as I pray for you. And let us resolve to sever every connection which would bind us to the mystery of iniquity. And let us continue to choose Christ . . . embracing the Great Mystery . . . and despite the darkness of sin . . . let us bring that light of Christ to the World.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Most Precious Blood @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
JULY 1, 2018
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



Today we celebrate the First Class Feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The feast was initially commemorated on the Friday of Fourth Week of Lent.



In 1849, the Blessed Pope Pius IX fled Rome during an uprising. A truce was signed on July 1; and in honor of a restoration of peace, the Holy Father extended the Feast of the Precious Blood to all of Christendom.

Later that year, he included it in the General Roman Calendar for the first Sunday in July; and in a simplification of the calendar, it was moved to July 1.



Pope Saint John XXIII raised it to the level of first class, and in the revised Missal of 1969, it was removed … and reduced to a votive Mass.



In the middle of the 15th century, Franciscans and Dominicans – in the presence of Pope Pius II – debated whether the Precious Blood was an essential part, or merely a concomitant part of Our Lord’s sacred humanity. One hundred years later, the Council of Trent stated that the Precious Blood was indeed part of Christ the Lord. (I don’t know if the debate was an error in theology or biology, but I’m glad it’s been settled.)



Closely associated with the Sacred Heart – which is sometimes devotionally referred to as the “wine cellar of the Precious Blood.”



Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI spoke in England in 2010, saying: “The outpouring of Christ’s blood is the source of the Church’s life.” And that the Precious Blood is represented “by the martyrs of every age, who drank from the cup which Christ himself drank, and whose own blood, shed in union with his sacrifice, gives new life to the Church.”

The martyr comes from the Greek word for “witness,” and the Emeritus Holy Father encourages us to be “witnesses of the beauty of holiness, witnesses of the splendour of truth, witnesses of the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ!”

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – may we remain united to Him in His Mystical Body the Church … and may His Blood course through our veins … so that He may increase the Divine Life of Grace within us … more and more … each day.

4th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JUNE 17, 2018
12:00 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



Pretty much every American school kid knows that July 4, 1776 was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

Perhaps less known is that on June 15, 1215 in Runnymede, England the Magna Carta was signed. And last Friday – besides being payday –  marked the 803rd anniversary of that fateful day.

Prior to the signing of the Magna Carta, English kings were somewhat at liberty to act as they saw fit, for good or for ill. Enormous burdens through taxes and levies were common; as were arbitrary seizures of people, property, and cash by the Crown. The unchecked power of the monarchy led to widespread corruption.



Enter the Magna Carta – the Great Charter of Liberties – that ensured the right to own and inherit property, and protection from excessive taxation. Things we take for granted 803 years later – such as, the consent of the governed, due process, equal protection, and separation of church and state – find their origins in the Magna Carta.

Today is the 4th Sunday after Pentecost.

In St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he speaks about the “expectation of the creature waiteth” Pointing out “the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”



While this sounds awkward, the Greek word used for “the creature” – κτίσις – is a word used by rabbis to mean someone who had converted from idolatry … and so, perhaps a better rendering would be “convert from idolatry” or alternately “idolater” or “convert” depending on the context.

In the Gospel, we hear Our Lord’s admonition to St. Peter to “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” While Peter protests – after all, it was the end of long hard day of work, and the fishermen had caught nothing at all.



Yet God has a plan. Despite what we may think. The result of Peter going against his own will and fulfilling Christ’s command is a miracle: “a very great multitude of fishes.” So great, that “their net broke.”

Indeed, regardless of how we may weigh our own circumstances, God remains in control. God’s law, and God’s plan overshadow our own plan. And no matter what we may consider as “liberty” . . . unrestrained liberty rapidly descends into license … what we often see played out in the world.
We must be reminded over and over … that true freedom … true liberty … comes through Jesus Christ.



Yet are we fully convinced of this? Are we totally committed to living our lives through, with, and in Jesus Christ? When we think we have a better idea … or perhaps when things don’t go our way … do we cast aside fidelity to Christ and instead pursue our own whims? Or even, perhaps, wade into the corruption of the world?

Saint Paul reminds at the start of todays reading “that we are the [children] of God … heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ”  but not through force of will, but rather “if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.”



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us put out into the deep. Let us step out in fatih, setting aside any fears or misgivings … and place ourselves in the hands of Our Savior. Let us remember that all Creation – ourselves included – is subject to the Laws of God and Reign of God … and as members of the Body of Christ, we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom of God, and reign with Christ in eternity.

Sacred Heart @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - EXTERNAL SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART
JUNE 10, 2018
12:00 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



During the Octave of Corpus Christi in the year 1675, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque – a Visitation nun in the French town of Paray-le-Monial – had what is called the “great apparition.” She had a vision of Jesus holding out His pierced heart toward her and said:

Behold this Heart which has so loved men, that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself in order to testify to its love. In return, I have received from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and their sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this sacrament of Love.

I was once asked to represent the Catholic position on “The Atonement.” I wasn’t familiar with this term, because it is perhaps one of the only theological terms that originates in the English language. In a sense, it relates to redemption, righteousness, and relationship.



When I arrived (late) at this theological “free for all,” someone from a mainstream denomination was carrying on with the theme of “What kind of Father kills his own Son,” and “Wearing a Crucifix is like wearing an electric chair, or wearing a noose.” In effect, mocking the Trinity and mocking the Cross.

After this enthralling discourse, it was my turn.

I began by speaking of the infinite Love of the Most Holy Trinity, traveling at an infinite speed, in an infinite quantity, with infinite force – and when this infinite … infinite … infinite … infinite Love meets the immoveable free will of humanity … it’s like a train wreck … like a high speed train being driven into a brick wall.



And then I pulled out my crucifix from under my shirt, and held it up, saying: “God didn’t do this. We did. We’re the ones who tell God, ‘No,’ or ‘Not now,’ or ‘Not yet.’ We are the ones who reject the infinite Love of God. And this is what that train wreck looks like.”

Today, I have chosen to offer the Mass of the Sacred Heart as an External Solemnity. This is allowed in the Extraordinary Form for this feast as well as in October for the Most Holy Rosary.

The Gospel provides us with an understanding of how the world looks at the “train wreck” that I described above. That is, what is the world’s response to the devastation caused by its rejection … our rejection … when the infinite, high speed, enormous Love of God … crashes into the brick wall of an immoveable, unrepentant human heart.



In the first place, God's love is inconvenient. Our Lord hung dead from his cross, but because it was the day before an important Sabbath, something had to be done with these bodies.

Secondly, the world is impatient to move beyond God's love. While Our Lord was dead, the thieves were not. So, the Romans broke their legs, hastening their deaths by asphyxiation.

Thirdly, the world is cruel in the face of God's love. Our Lord was already dead. His Blessed Mother standing by the Cross had to watch as a soldier desecrated His precious Body by piercing His side with a lance.



And despite the world’s response – Blood and Water poured forth. Signs of Baptism and the Eucharist – the entry into the Sacraments, and the Source and Summit of our Christian life.

The world does not comprehend the immensity, the abundance, the intensity of the Love of God for all humanity. And perhaps, neither do we. But today, we can pray the prayer of reparation, as Our Lord requested nearly 350 years ago.

+ + + + + + +

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for me is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Your altar (in Your presence) eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Your loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Your pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying for from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow You, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Your Law. We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against You; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against You and Your Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Your Vicar on earth and Your priest are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Your Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which You have founded. Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Your divine honor, the satisfaction You once made to Your eternal Father on the cross and which You continue to renews daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Your Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Your grace, for all neglect of Your great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent other from offending You and to bring as many as possible to follow You.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowing gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to You, so that we may one day come to that happy home, where You with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, world without end. 

– Amen.